The Purifier
by infinitygalaxies.infinitystars
Summary: A made-up episode. Includes a reveal and insecure!Marinette. Pretty awesome (even if I do say so myself XD). Rated T for French swear words used. I own nothing (except the plot - and some minor OOCness of the characters).


In the daytime, she's Marinette, just a normal girl with a normal life. But there's something about her that no one knows yet, 'cause she has a secret. Whenever Paris is in danger, she transforms into Ladybug, a crime-fighting heroine that is here to save Paris from the evil akumas that Hawk Moth sends down onto defenceless, vulnerable Parisians. Normally, she has her partner-in-goodness with her, Cat Noir. He's a boy just like her. Except she's luckier than him. Literally. Ladybugs are good luck, black cats (like him) are not. But, they make an excellent duo.

* * *

Marinette sat with Alya behind Adrien and Nino. It was their fashion design lesson and Marinette was determined to win this competition. Well, if she could get over her huge crush on Adrien enough so that she could hold a proper conversation with him.  
"Well," their teacher said, entering the room, "as I'm sure you've all heard, there's a contest coming up for someone's designs to feature in the Agreste fashion show at the end of the week. Of course, as always, the products will be modelled by our very own Adrien Agreste…" The teacher paused as she motioned to Adrien. Adrien blushed slightly as people clapped, bored. He looked around, as usual Chloé and Sabrina were overdoing it and, for some reason, Marinette wasn't looking at him at all. Instead, she was furiously drawing something. He chuckled slightly before turning back to face the teacher. As the teacher droned on, Adrien thought about Marinette. She was different to the rest of the girls he knew, sure. If he wasn't also Cat Noir, sure, he'd date her. But, he knew he only had feelings for his Lady. His Ladybug.  
As the lesson drew to an end, Marinette rose and walked passed him, purposefully, before pausing and walking back to Adrien. Confused, he too had stopped. He watched as a pink-faced Marinette wiped some red stuff off of his cheek. "Lipstick," she muttered, before running off to join her best friend.

When Marinette caught up to Alya, she burst into speech. "He has a new cologne. I know because I also know he designed it." Alya looked at her, as if to ask her _really?_ "Yes, I do know that! Ask Nino!" She said, as the boy in question passed.  
"Hey, Nino?" Alya asked her boyfriend as he began to walk home. Marinette crossed her arms, ready to be proven right. Nino stopped and turned to face Alya. He cocked his head and raised an eyebrow in a silent question. "Did Adrien make the cologne he's wearing today? Like, did he come up with the scent and everything himself?"  
"Uh, yeah." Nino said. Marinette saw Alya glance at her and she rearranged her face to read _I told you so._ "How'd you know?"  
"Mari told me." Alya said, referring to her nickname that everyone had started calling her.  
Nino looked at one of his oldest friends. "Of course Mari would know." He winked at her, making a flush creep its way onto her face. He laughed as he turned and ran home, Marinette shouting empty threats after him.

* * *

 _*Meanwhile, somewhere else in the city*_

* * *

"No, you may not have a raise! Any of you! You cannot go on strike either! Think of the medical bills this will flag up! Come on! Buck up!" The trade unionist shouted at the group of junior doctors. Most of the junior doctors dispersed, leaving to coffee shops and such like, in huffs, muttering about the harsh unionist at the front.  
However, one junior doctor walked away to the bridge of the Seine. He sat down and shook in his anger. _This was not fair. This was supposed to be the day that junior doctors got what they deserved!  
_ Little did he know that he gave room for a dark man with evil purposes to take one of his many pure white butterflies and coat it with evil.  
"Go, my little akuma. Help this man to become his inner doctor." He said, before laughing.

The dark butterfly landed on the junior doctor's stethoscope. Immediately, Hawk Moth's telepathy signalled through. "Hawk Moth is my name and Purifier is now yours. I will help you to get the life you deserve and all you'll have to do in return is help me get something from those wretched pests, Ladybug and Cat Noir."  
Influenced and tempted by the power, the junior doctor agreed. The stethoscope's plastic covering now was tinged purple and he was suddenly in his own bubble of purity.

In his bubble, he rose and realised that he could do anything to keep people from getting ill. He started making laws in his head. _Most viruses travel through close distances. Time to keep people away from each other._ He grinned. If he saw any more than two people closer than two feet, he wrapped them in 'purity' bubbles, which lifted them far away from illness and anything that could cause them any type of bodily harm.

He looked down and saw a girl sitting close to a woman and a large man. "Oh no." He sneered. "That simply won't do." Pointing his stethoscope at the woman and man, he released two light blue bubbles. As soon as the adults were trapped, the bubbles locked down and turned a dark brown colour.  
He turned and saw a young boy sitting with a man, but they were sitting feet apart. "Good, good." He said, before flying away.

* * *

 _*Back down with Marinette*_

* * *

Marinette knew what had happened the instant her parents had been captured: Hawk Moth had released another akuma. Backing away slowly, looking around her for any sign of someone noticing her, she ran to a secret alcove.  
"Tikki, transform me!" She asked of her kwami. Tikki immediately complied. She transferred her essence to Mari's Miraculous earrings and Mari became Ladybug.  
Using her yo-yo, she moved quickly around the city. She arrived back at the fountain she had been at. She looked around, before meeting the eyes of Adrien. _Oh, god.  
_ She ran at him and his father, who were weirdly sitting about three feet apart. "Listen," she said to them both, "you have to get out of here. Cat Noir and I will take care of this."  
Of course, Gabriel Agreste wasn't easily ordered around. "Well, where's this cat friend of yours?"  
Mari resisted the urge to roll her eyes, but she was sure Adrien caught it. "Oh, he's probably on his way. After all, the cat does take longer to do stuff than I do." She smiled.

Adrien was sitting away from his father, contemplating his awful situation. He was definitely in love with Ladybug, but he was also developing feelings for Marinette. It was stupid but… Marinette reminded Adrien a lot of his Lady. Of course, he insisted they have different nicknames when he was Cat Noir. Lady was Ladybug and Princess was Marinette. Easy-peasy. Except when he slipped while he was Adrien. Marinette would look at him oddly, before shrugging.  
Suddenly, he caught the eyes of Ladybug. He felt like drowning. The Columbia blue shade of her eyes… but wait! If _Ladybug_ was here, _Cat Noir_ needed to be, too. He started thinking of excuses, still staring into his crush's eyes. _They do look remarkably similar to Mari's… no, they can't be the same person._ Ladybug was suddenly in front of him and his father. "Listen," her beautiful voice said, before she proceeded to tell them to escape. His father then asked a question and whatever it was made a twinkle come into his Lady's eyes and Adrien could tell she was trying not to roll her eyes. "Oh, he's probably on his way. After all, the cat does take longer to do stuff than I do." She smiled.  
Adrien was about to protest, when he found himself saying, "I'm just going to go check on something, Dad. You go to the car. I'll meet you at home." Without a word, his father left.  
Before he could say anything to his Lady, she laid a hand on his cheek. "Go, Adrien. Be safe. Cat and I will be okay. We're the best team this city has." She smirked, before waving her fingers and zooming away with her yo-yo.  
Adrien ran to the nearest restrooms and pulled Plagg out by his ears. "Plagg, claws out!" Plaggs complied, complaining the whole way. He transferred his essence to Adrien's Miraculous ring and Adrien became Cat Noir.

Twirling his staff, he walked up next to Ladybug, who was staring at the sky with hard eyes. "Look who I found. My purr-fect Lady. So, Bug-a-boo, what's got you fur-owning?" He nudged her, pleased with his puns.  
"Not now, Cat. This guy, I think his name's Purifier, is putting people in bubbles. I'm trying to figure out where the akuma may be." His Lady said, still staring at the man in the bubble.  
"Well, my Lady, while you're doing that, I'm just going to sit here." He was about to sit on a bench, when Ladybug's eyes widened.  
"His stethoscope." Cat flipped to his place on her right-hand side and zoomed his feline eyes on the man and his ridiculous stethoscope. He started snarling slightly.  
"Whoa, kitty. No vet appointments for you. This guy's a doctor. You know, humans?" Ladybug said, raising an eyebrow and putting her hands on her hips.  
"Sorry. Really don't like medical equipment." Cat said, sheepishly.  
"Right, then. Come on, kitty-kat. Let's shoo this doctor away." Ladybug said.  
"Can we throw apples?" Cat asked, his voice full of faux-innocence and his eyes wide and child-like.  
"Aw!" Ladybug knelt down to be eye-level with the crouching Cat. "No." She said, firmly.

Cat pouted, before leaning forward. "You smell really nice. Like cinnamon." He smirked at her slightly shocked face, before bounding away.  
"That _stupid_ cat." Ladybug muttered, before using her yo-yo to swing her away to a higher position. As she stood there, on the top of this random building, she heard Tikki saying something, worriedly.  
 ** _Hey, Marinette? Sorry, Ladybug? I've seen this kind of akuma before. They need two battles. You'll need to use Lucky Charm twice and Cat'll need to use Cataclysm twice. Plagg, his kwami, will probably forget. Tell Cat. Now. Before he does something stupid.  
_** Quickly, Ladybug swung over to Cat, who was busy telling people to run. As soon as he was done, he turned to Ladybug and smirked. "Miss me, Bug-a-boo?"  
"Stop it, Cat. You know I don't like that nickname. But, my kwami, Tikki, tells me that this akuma will need two Lucky Charms and two Cataclysms to defeat. She said that… Plagg? would forget." Ladybug said, facing the Purifier, but talking to Cat over her shoulder.  
Adrien froze. "How did you know about Plagg?"

"My kwami told me. Keep up! We'll need to defeat it in two battles. Do you have enough… energy food for your kwami?" Ladybug said.  
"Oh, yeah." Adrien relaxed. "I've got enough cheese in my bag to last for months."  
"Wait." Ladybug froze, before turning to face her partner. "Your kwami likes _cheese_?"  
"Well, yeah." Cat turned to find his partner switching between sniggering behind her hand and trying not to outright laugh. "Why?" He scratched his hair.  
"My kwami likes chocolate chip cookies, which is easy enough, considering where my civilian self calls home."  
"Which is…" Cat asked, trying to sneak information out of his partner. Ladybug tutted and with a wink, flipped away from him. Cat huffed in annoyance before following her.

"Lucky Charm!" Ladybug shouted, throwing her clutch/yo-yo into the air. When it dropped back into her hand, it was a pin. "A sewing pin?"  
"Hey, LB? Need any help?" Cat asked, waving his hand, indicating his ability of Cataclysm.  
Ladybug turned on her Lucky Vision, and her eyes highlighted the telephone mast nearby, the bubble surround the Purifier, and her sewing pin. She turned back to Cat. "Cat, when I get on that mast, use Cataclysm on it!"  
Cat nodded. "Cataclysm!" He shouted, thrusting out his hand. When the change occurred, his hand was bubbling with destruction energy. He leapt to the mast and waited for his Lady's signal.  
Ladybug, holding the pin, jumped and flipped her way onto the mast. Once she landed on the top, she nodded at Cat, who stroked the part of the circumference facing the Purifier. As the mast fell, Ladybug waited for the angle to be right, before flipping and popping the Purifier's bubble with the pin. The Purifier fell, cursing Ladybug and Cat, as he was now forced to move by standing on bubbles or by walking.  
The pin then disappeared and her clutch/yo-yo was once again attached to her hip. The beeps emanating from both heroes caused them to run in different directions.

Once Ladybug got to her alcove, she stopped abruptly. Cat stood there, ready for his transformation. He stared at her with wide green eyes.  
"Tikki, do I have enough time to run to somewhere else?" She asked, still staring at Cat.  
 ** _No. Sorry, Ladybug. You'll both have to reveal your civilian selves.  
_** Both heroes closed their eyes as they felt their transformations occurring. Both of them kept their eyes closed once they had changed back, uneager to make the other upset. "Okay," Marinette started, "on three, we open our eyes. One…" she took a step forward.  
"Two…" Adrien, eyes closed, also took a step forward.  
"Three!" They said together for opening their eyes quickly.  
" _Adrien?_ " Marinette said, unable to believe her eyes. Her bad-luck partner was _Adrien_? Adrien Agreste? The guy she'd had a crush on since he joined her school?  
" _Marinette?_ " Adrien said, in a similar tone. His bad-ass Lady was _Marinette_? The shy, stuttering girl who couldn't normally string a sentence together for him? The one he thought he was also developing feelings for?  
"Wait, are you telling me, that _Adrien Agreste_ is Cat Noir?" Marinette said. Adrien nodded, uneasily. He wasn't sure about her reaction. "Unbelievable." She muttered.  
"Sorry, Mari, but why is it unbelievable?" Adrien asked, cautiously.  
"Because that means, that Cat Noir had a crush on Ladybug, who was Marinette, who had a crush on Adrien, who was Cat Noir." She said. Upon seeing Adrien's confused face, she reiterated her sentence. "Neither of our crushes worked out, because we were both standing in our own way!"  
"What?" Adrien asked, confused.  
"Cat had a crush on Ladybug, right? But Ladybug liked someone else, who was Adrien. So you were standing in your own way of Ladybug's affections! At the same time, Marinette had a crush on Adrien. But Adrien liked Ladybug. So I was standing in my own way of getting you to like me!"  
Adrien's eyes widened in understanding. "Wait!" He said, eventually. "So that means that you like me." He looked smug.  
"Well, y-yeah." Marinette muttered, stuttering. She was hoping he wouldn't have gotten that piece of information that quickly. "Uh, we… we c-could j-just, uh, ignore that. If, if you w-want." She saw his face and changed her sentence. "Or, or w-we c-could patrol se-separately. J-just for, for a while." She stuttered.  
Adrien _couldn't believe his ears._ Marinette, and therefore Ladybug, liked him! Then, what she was saying reached his processing centre in his brain. He realised what she was saying. She thought Adrien _didn't like her_. Adrien looked at his Lady and his Princess. He saw the utter defeat in her face, like she'd already accepted the fact that Adrien didn't _love_ the fact that Ladybug and Marinette were the same person. He just couldn't believe that the two girls he loved were actually one. He wanted to sing and dance and celebrate. But, first, he had to make Marinette understand something. "Stop, Mari. Just, stop." She paused, her face pale, and he realised that she thought he was going to yell at her. "I don't care. I don't care that you're Ladybug. In fact, I _love_ the fact that you're my Lady." Her eyes widened. "This just means that my Lady does, in fact, like me. And I love that. I love _you._ Now, come on. We need to talk. Then, defeat this akuma." He took her by the elbow and pulled her further into the alcove, where there was a small bench. He ignored her staring at him in shock and confusion. "Now, talk. Why do you think I don't like you?" He asked, staring at her intently.  
Marinette looked down. She did _not_ expect Adrien to do this. To take her further into her alcove and demand to know the reasons for her insecurity. "Uh, you… you really d-don't w-want to know…" she mumbled, biting her lip, thinking of how close Chloé and Adrien were.  
"No, I really do. And stop biting your lip." He said, reaching out and holding her chin. He gently tugged down and her bottom lip came free. "Now, tell me. I won't mind."  
"P-promise you w-won't get mad?" She asked him, sounding slightly anxious. "Wi-with anyone?"  
"I promise." Adrien swore, now extremely curious.  
"Well, it was Chloé's thing really." That made Adrien's eyebrows rise. "It was back when you first joined our class. You wouldn't know of Chloé's attitude to me before you came. She was… alright. Just kind of bossy. She'd tell me and some of the others, like Mylene, about how she was better than us, and because she's popular and pretty and everything, everyone took her words as true. That more or less carries on to now. We quickly became rivals in design class, which got me to be bad news with Chloé. Nino and Alya were the first ones to openly be friends with me. Chloé more or less turned most of our class against me pretty quickly. Alya knew my designs to be mine and Nino was always like my brother. They stood up for me if I couldn't do so myself.  
"Then, you arrived." Marinette's face flushed a dusty pink and Adrien knew this part was going to be interesting. "I kind of started designing clothes I thought would suit you. Chloé found them, and, well, the resulting 'conversation' made us become bitter rivals. She knew that I'd only designed clothes for Nino, Alya and my family, and there you were, some stranger, coming and making me design clothes for you. She assumed I had a crush on you, which at that point, I didn't. I just thought of clothes that would suit you better than what you had worn then. Chloé then took our arguments to a new level, but only when you weren't around." Mari looked up at Adrien's surprised face. "She really does like you. She started saying things like how I'm just a baker's daughter, and how I'm not rich, I don't get my own allowance, I don't live in luxury, things I'd heard before. But they were somehow harsher. She said that… that you wouldn't look twice at someone like me because of my plain looks, how my social status would make sure you kept well away from me, how my shyness would make you look down on me, how my family would make you scoff and turn away from me, things like that. She took what I knew to be my flaws and made them all I could see. Nino and Alya hated her from then. Nino decided to take you under his wing so that you weren't completely blinded by your friendship with her and so that you could see how she made others feel." Suddenly, Mari seemed to realise how much she'd said in one go, and flushed a deep pink. "I-I'm s-sorry. I-I didn't mean t-to, you know, m-monopolize the c-conversation." She stuttered. Adrien stared at her, in disbelief. She flinched away, believing Adrien to tell her off for saying awful things about his oldest friend.  
Adrien had other ideas. He had been watching Mari and couldn't believe that it was _Chloé_ who had made her feel like that. He realised that at one point, he couldn't tell which, but at one point, Marinette had actually _believed_ what Chloé had said. He knew, somewhere at the back of his mind, that Marinette was scared that he was angry at her for what she had said about his first and oldest friend, but he was more worried about what that friend had said and done to the girl he had been in love with for months now. "Marinette," he said her name slowly and his tone indicated that he hoped he was wrong about whatever he was about to say, "Marinette, please tell me that you didn't _believe_ what Chloé said." When Marinette said nothing and simply turned her head slightly, his voice turned pleading and desperate. "Marinette, please! Please tell me you didn't believe her!"  
Marinette said nothing, but a little creature that was red with a single black spot on its forehead flew forwards and stopped in front of Adrien's face.  
"Hi, Adrien. I'm Tikki. I'm Marinette's kwami. I make her Ladybug. I've been with her a while, so I can answer your questions." Tikki said, smiling at Adrien, but looking sadly at Marinette.  
"Tikki, please tell me Mari didn't believe Chloé! Please!" He begged the red ladybug kwami.  
The kwami uncomfortably did a little flip mid-air and said, "If I said that, I'd be lying, and Mari told me that lying is bad if it hurts people. And lying to you would hurt Mari because she hates liars, and would hurt me because, well, you didn't see Mari at that time." Tikki turned and flew into Marinette's face, before hugging her.  
Adrien turned to look at his love. She was turned away from him, slightly smiling at her kwami, and very pointedly ignoring his staring. Suddenly, she looked at him, looked at her kwami, and sighed deeply. Her kwami kept on disagreeing with something. It was only when she started speaking that he realised what it was.  
"Uh, Adrien? I u-understand that, that I'm not w-what you expe-expected Ladybug to, to be l-like. I know you'll p-probably p-prefer if we patrolled separately for a f-few nights or s-something. I'll take f-first watch and l-leave a note on y-your window when you c-can patrol. Uh, I-I'll ask A-Alya if we c-can s-swap with another p-pair in our classes. Uh, I-I'll see you l-later." She spluttered, before picking up her things and running away.

Adrien sat there, confused and shocked. Marinette very obviously believed Adrien hated her. He looked down to see Tikki pulling his hand. "I know where she's gone. She _needs_ to know someone loves her completely: for Marinette and for Ladybug." The kwami turned its head to the Eiffel Tower, which loomed over them. "Come on!" Adrien followed the little red creature, even when it hid in his pocket, the kwami talked to him, instructing him on where to go.  
He found himself in front of a path. The kwami popped its head out. "Follow this path. When you get to the ladder, climb it. You'll know which one I mean." Tikki disappeared again.  
Adrien walked down the unruly path, before he came to three ladders. He looked at the three, before moving towards the one that seemed to have a slight pinkish aura to it. He climbed up, the ladder leading him higher and higher. He realised that the ladder led to the old service elevators of the Eiffel Tower.  
"Get in one of them and go up as high as you can." Tikki's muffled voice came out from his pocket, the kwami somehow knowing where he was.  
Adrien did so, and once he got off the elevator, he was met with the sight of Marinette, sitting with her legs dangling off the Tower. He knew that nobody would see them, as high as they were, as the new elevators didn't reach up this high.  
Tikki immediately left Adrien's pocket and flew to her girl. She laid her head against Mari's thigh and Adrien's eyes widened when he heard the muffled and choked sobs coming from the girl.

"Mari…" Adrien unconsciously whispered, shocked by everything he had learned and seen.  
Marinette immediately turned, eyes wide and running, and her mouth fell open. "A-Adrien!"  
Adrien ran forwards to Mari, and fell onto his knees next to her. Her mouth was still open, her face following his movement, like she wasn't sure whether she was hallucinating or not. "My Lady, Princess, Marinette… I don't want to patrol alone. I want to patrol with _you_. I want to patrol with the girl I love."  
Marinette's mouth closed, and her eyes brightened in understanding. Almost to herself, she started muttering. "I'm very imaginative. You look so much like him. But Adrien wouldn't say that." She looked out at the Parisian skyline.  
Adrien's eyes filled with despair, before he got an idea. "Maybe this will convince you I'm really here."  
Marinette looked at him, slightly curious as to what he'd do.  
Adrien started moving slowly. He lifted his hand and rested it on her cheek. Her eyes widened as he stroked her soft skin. He lifted his other hand so that he could cup her face in both hands. Her mouth fell open in surprise. Using his thumbs, he wiped off stray tears. Slowly, he leaned forward, making sure Mari knew what was going to happen. Finally, he pressed their lips together.  
That kiss turned from _one short kiss_ to _a flurry of kisses_ , as they couldn't seem to get enough of each other. It was as if they had finally realised that their homes weren't the buildings where they slept and ate, but their homes were each other.

"Adrien… Cat…" Marinette breathed, as Adrien's kisses moved down her throat. He made a hum of question, showing that he was listening. "We… need to… talk."  
Adrien groaned, his lips resting against her collarbone, and he let his forehead fall to rest on her shoulder. The vibration of his lips made a shiver run down Marinette's body. Adrien relunctantly pulled away and looked Marinette in the eye. "I guess we do."  
"So… uh, now that _that_ has been established… uh, can we still be fr-friends with each other?" Mari asked, looking up at Adrien through her eyelashes.  
" _Putain_ , no!" Adrien said, without thinking. His eyes widened as Mari's filled with tears. He backtracked slightly and mentally kicked himself. "Wait, that's not what I meant." Mari looked at him, her eyes cloudy with unshed tears. "I meant that we can't be friends… since I'd like to be more…" Her eyes widened.  
"What… what d-do you mean?" Mari asked, slightly scared.  
"Princess… Lady… Mari… I'd like to be your boyfriend. I'd like to say that I'm yours if someone flirts with me. I'd like to say your name if someone asks me who my girlfriend is. I'd like to be yours, Mari."  
Her mouth dropped as she gasped and her face flooded with blood. She nodded quickly before looking down and saying, "I'd like to be yours, too, Adrien."  
Adrien kissed her again, before leaning back and saying, "By the way, _j'en ai plus rien à foutre_ what anyone else thinks that our relationship should be like. I love you for _you_. Anyone who says anything otherwise can _aller se faire foutre._ "  
Marinette giggled, lightly smacking Adrien's chest, whilst reprimanding him for his language. She sighed and looked out. "Well, kitty." Adrien perked up. She was calling _Adrien_ her nickname for Cat Noir. He looked down at her. She looked up to see him already smiling down on her. "Let's kick some doctor butt."  
"My pleasure, Lady."

After they had both transformed, they made their way back to the Purifier, who was now walking along the streets, walking close to those he'd then place in 'purity' bubbles.  
"Lucky Charm!" Ladybug shouted, throwing her clutch in the air. It landed in her open palm as a red sharpie. She turned on her Lucky Vision. The only thing it highlighted was the sharpie and… herself. She had an idea. She turned to Adrien. "Cat! Come here!"  
Cat made his way over. He looked at the sharpie and raised an eyebrow. She waved the unspoken question away before telling him to Cataclysm the stethoscope when she threw it to him. He nodded and followed behind her, making sure to stay out of sight. He spotted Alya recording everything on her phone, with a strange look of satisfaction on her face. He realised that they probably came a lot closer to each other than before.

Ladybug uncapped the lid of the sharpie and drew red dots on herself, making her look ill. She sat on a bench and started to fake-cough. It was so believable that even Cat, who knew she wasn't ill, nearly came out of hiding to make sure she was alright.  
The Purifier turned to face the small girl in the Ladybug costume who was spreading a virus to everyone. He approached her, angry with her for spreading illness and disease. He lifted his stethoscope when he came to sit a few feet away from her.  
Instantly, Mari stopped coughing and Ladybug threw herself at the akumatized man. She grasped his stethoscope and pulled it off him, throwing it to the place where she knew Cat would be hiding.  
Cat immediately touched the stethoscope with his hand and the akuma flew out.

Ladybug brought out her clutch and caught the akuma, saying "time to de-evilize" as she did so, so that the akuma could turn back into the beautiful pure butterfly.  
She turned to see Cat helping the akumatized victim and she stopped to just watch her partner. After a minute, she walked up to the two. "I apologise," she started saying to the doctor, cutting off Cat, "for leaving you with this kitten. He can't seem to stop with the puns." She looked at the junior doctor, knowing the reason behind the akuma's possession. "Don't worry, I'll put in a word with the Mayor about the struggles you face and I'll try my best to give juniors doctors the stuff they deserve." She smiled as he grinned at her.

Once he had left the duo, Ladybug turned to Cat. "Well, kitty," she offered her fist, "pound it?"  
"I've got a better idea." The cheeky look in Cat's eyes should have given her a clue, but Ladybug suddenly found herself kissing her partner. After a brief moment of shock, she relaxed into the kiss, ignoring the whooping and cheering from around her.  
"I'm going to kill you on Monday." She whispered.  
"And why's that?" He breathed, leaning his forehead on hers.  
"You know she's filming this right now and I'll never hear the end of it."  
He laughed, his voice still not entirely back, so it was more like he was half-breathing. "I know." He pulled away from her, winked at her, and, at a louder volume, said "I love you, too."  
Ladybug's eyes widened as she heard Alya squeal loudly behind her.

* * *

 _*the next day*_

* * *

"… and then he leaned back and said that he loved her too!" Alya finished recounting the entire tale to a red-faced Marinette. Alya was so excited, she didn't comprehend that her best friend was feeling embarrassed over something that had nothing to do with her.

At that moment, Adrien walked in, immediately noticing Marinette's red face and Alya's dreamy expression. He knew instantly what they had been talking about. In full view of both Alya and Marinette, he winked at his girlfriend. Her face flushed a deep scarlet and, as he took his seat beside Nino (who immediately asked for an explanation), he leaned back to eavesdrop on the conversation behind him.

"What was _that_ about?" Alya demanded of her friend. Adrien leaned back more, eager to hear what Mari would say.  
"Uh, Adrien and I may have talked to each other last night… concerning… you know." Mari mumbled, knowing that her audience included Nino, Adrien and Alya.  
"And? Girl, you better be telling me you guys are going out." Alya said.  
"Well, I told him my feelings… and I guess he feels the same…" Mari muttered, her face turning more and more red.  
"You guess?!" Adrien said, incredulously, before realising how loud he was speaking. He turned, before repeating what he said. "You _guess?!_ "

By now, the whole class, save for Chloé and Sabrina, turned to face their class celebrity, who was staring with incredulity at Marinette, who whispered something to him.  
He seemed to ignore it and said, "Marinette! Are you not going to tell everyone? Or did you want me to tell everyone?"  
Everyone's eyes moved from Adrien's face, which was trained on Marinette, to the girl in question. Her face was bright pink and she was staring down at her desk.  
"Right, then." Adrien said. He stood and walked over to Marinette's desk, pulled her up and dragged her over to his desk. He then sat her down on his lap, which made Mari's face flare up a new shade of pink, and brought on a loud round of muttering. "Class?" he announced, staring at Marinette. This time, even Chloé and Sabrina turned to face him, slightly shocked by the sight of Marinette on Adrien's lap. "Marinette is now my girlfriend." Ignoring the whispers, he put two fingers on Marinette's chin and pushed her face so that they faced each other. "How was that, Bug-a-boo?" He muttered to her, quietly.  
"Mortifying." She replied. "Chloé is going to _hate_ me now."  
"Well, she's going to have to deal with it." He mumbled, before moving his hand into her hair and pushing their faces together so that he could kiss her.

They both vaguely heard the whoops, cheers, and wolf-whistles surrounding them. Due to their heightened hearing, they broke apart as soon as they heard their teacher's high-heels clicking on the end of the corridor. Marinette made her way back to her seat and had just sat down when their teacher opened the door.  
Of course, their teacher was extremely confused to see both Adrien Agreste and Marinette Dupain-Cheng bright red, Chloé and Sabrina glaring at the pair, Alya and Nino grinning like crazy, and everyone else smiling like they had finally witnessed something they had been waiting for since the start of the year.

* * *

 _*that night*_

* * *

Adrien stood in Marinette's bedroom. He had made his way there using his Cat Noir abilities, and had snuck into Mari's bedroom. She had called him, but not in the usual way.  
She had messaged him, simply saying _I'm going to kill you, Kitty.  
_ He entered her room, sheepishly, not sure what he had done, but still embarrassed by it.

Without turning to greet or even _look_ at him, Mari said, "Look at the LadyBlog." She was lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling.  
He quietly made his way over to her computer. Once he switched the monitor on, the webpage loaded to show the LadyBlog that Alya updated habitually.  
He realised why she'd threatened him instantly.

 **Ladybug and Cat Noir are finally dating!  
** ** _How long has it been since we first saw the pair bickering like an old married couple? How long has it been since Cat Noir started to flirt with his 'Lady'? How long has it been since we leant of the cute nicknames he has for her? That's right,_** **years** ** _. Well, my lovely viewers, I am happy to announce that it appears that our favourite heroes are finally dating.  
Watch this video for further evidence!  
By the way, congrats Mari for finally getting with Adrien!_**

Adrien turned to his girlfriend. "Babe, I'm _so_ sorry." He knew he was forgiven when he called her 'babe' as her cheeks flushed and she beckoned him over for a kiss.

Well, a kiss that turned into quite a few...


End file.
